Aftershock
by melinda08
Summary: After witnessing the most brutal day in the history of the barn, Danny has never felt so alone or so helpless. Somehow, through all the pain, she finds a friend in the most unexpected of places
1. Chapter 1

There had been many, many rough days at the Barn, but today was quite possibly the worst day the station had ever been witness to. Corruption had been going on for some time, that was no secret. But what had all started with the death of one officer, Terry, had led to something more than corrupt, more than evil. Two of the strike team members were dead, one had been injured, and one was in jail. The worst part? The heart of the strike team, the ringleader of all that had been bad and wrong and evil, was a free man. And even worse, that man, Vic Mackey, was the father of Danny's baby.

She'd learned to be strong in her profession. She had to. She couldn't break down at the sight of every body she'd come across to, or she'd be no better than that vapid Tina whom she couldn't stand. Tina hadn't really even known Lem, but her wails at the discovery of Lem's charred body had been almost as sinful as the crime committed against the fallen officer itself.

But now, at the end of the day, when all was said and done, Danny had never felt so alone in her life.

Normally she was anxious to get home, to see her little son. But now...she didn't want to go home. She didn't know where to go. The sight of Shane blowing his brains out, after killing his wife, son and unborn daughter...how was she supposed to go home with that in her mind? Ronnie, she almost felt bad for. Almost. But all of this...this was just too much. Just too much.

The tears fell, and thankfully the locker room was empty. Every officer was in far too much shock to do much of anything that day. Perhaps all of them felt like she did- what was the point in serving and protecting when they couldn't save their own?

She heard a knock. That could only be one person. Dutch was the only one around there with any kind of manners at all.

Quickly drying her face the best she could, she called out a quiet "come in", but she hadn't fooled him.

He didn't say much. He sat next to her, and he held her hand, and together, the two of them just tried to process all that had happened, what would happen next, and how the hell they'd all put the pieces of their lives back together again.

Danny leaned against him, and Dutch wasn't sure of how he should react. Instead, he just gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and tried to remain strong. He owed it to their friendship, to whatever feelings he'd once had for her, to stay strong. But even through the locker room, they could hear Ronnie's wails of injustice, of how he'd make Vic pay.

They said nothing. Comrade to comrade, friend to friend, they just sat in shock, neither of them daring to even begin to process what their next move would be.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Finally, Dutch spoke up. "I just wanted to let you know...Claudette is making us stay over tonight..." he started with more than a trace of uncertainty in his voice.

Danny stared at him. "You've got to be kidding me! One former member of our strike team just blew his brains out after...after...killing his family, and we have to stay and do paperwork? Tell Tina she can stay and do that. I can't..."

Dutch touched her arm. "it's not like that. She's called in some grief counselors. We'll be paid overtime, of course...but she wants us all to see them."

Danny wiped her face, trying to shield Dutch from the exhaustion that was more than apparent on it. "I can't...I can't talk about this...not now..."

"If not now, then when?"

She looked up at him, but neither one could speak.

Finally, Dutch spoke up. "Julien, he's talking of quitting. Acevada is coming in, but I don't...I'll just go ahead and say it, I don't care if I ever see him again. I think he may have known more than what he lets on..."

Danny looked at him curiously.

"I spoke to him a couple of times...about the money train thing. I know people are wanting us to believe that Lem did it alone, but you know what I found in his car?"

Danny looked down, but nodded anyways.

"I found a bottle of Pepto-Bismol, and a prescription for Prilosac. You know, the purple pill. You know what that means, don't you..."

Their eyes met, and Danny offered her opinion. "He had stomach problems, an ulcer or something."

Dutch half-smiled. "I always knew you'd make a great detective."

"Save it. I'm not Tina."

Hurt, he asked her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I'm just tired. Anyways, Lem had stomach problems...what's that tell you?"

"That the guy felt guilty, that he wasn't able to stomach, pardon the pun, the kind of shit that Vic and Shane and Ronnie had drug him into. I know he was the fall guy in all this, but something tells me, out of them all...Lem was the one least deserving of what happened to him."

Danny stared at him. "Can you prove any of this?"

"I don't know. I may talk to Claudette, but I just...I just need to clear my head first."

"You don't want to run it by Billings, first?" Danny half-smiled, and even Dutch had to do the same. Sometimes, no matter what the situation was, how bad it was, a little humor went a long way.

"Come on, Danny. Let's go see these counselors...wait, your son...do you have to get home?" Dutch asked, very concerned.

"I called my mom. She's keeping him for a few days. She doesn't know everything...but she will..." Danny sighed.

"If I can do anything, if I can help at all...pick up diapers, babysit while you take a nap...anything, you just call, okay?" Dutch offered.

There was so much she wanted to ask Dutch, wanted to talk about, but for the moment, she just nodded. "I can see why you're Claudette's favorite," Danny teased.

He grinned, then he helped her up, where they were both about to relive the darkest day of their professional career.


End file.
